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When the earth starts shaking, it may be too late. Don’t let another month go by without taking the basic steps needed to prepare your family for a major earthquake.
April 18 is the anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake – one of the most significant earthquakes of all time – and AAA Northern California reminds residents that the best way to recover from a quake is to plan for it in advance.
“One of the most important steps homeowners can take is to document their belongings before tragedy strikes,” advised AAA Northern California spokesperson Cynthia Harris. “Take the time to do an inventory of your home, either with photographs or a video camera. Then, store those records in an off-site location like a safe deposit box.”
AAA earthquake safety tips
– Create an earthquake survival kit. This is one of the most important steps you can take. The kit should include canned goods and can opener, two to four quarts of water per person per day, battery operated or hand crank radio, sanitary supplies, a camp stove, portable radio, flashlight and spare batteries, and tools to turn off utilities.
– Know how to shut off your home’s gas, water and electricity. You should also make sure your water heater is securely fastened to a wall or post with two metal straps.
– Conduct family earthquake drills. Make sure everyone knows which areas in a room are the safest. This may be underneath a table or against a wall. Stay away from windows, fireplaces and tall furniture.
– Decide where your family will reunite if you're separated. Choose a friend or relative you can call after an earthquake to let them know your location and condition. Phone lines are often overloaded or damaged in an earthquake and specifying one point of contact for your entire family will help avoid a strain on the system.
– Childproof your cabinet doors. It may seem like an annoyance initially, but installing latches on your cabinet doors can prevent them from flying open in an earthquake. By properly securing the doors you can keep precious belongings from spilling out and breaking.
– Check your insurance for earthquake coverage. Knowing what coverage you have can help speed up your recovery after a big quake. Most homeowners policies do not cover damage resulting from an earthquake, and in most cases a separate earthquake endorsement or policy is needed. You can find out more at www.AAA.com/insurance .
My name is Linda Diehl-Darms from Middletown. Due to circumstances out of our control and with mixed emotions, my husband, Tom and I closed our auto repair business, Tom's AutoDynamics, on April 13, 2016.
We opened our shop January 2005 and with gratitude to our loyal customers and our community, we have managed a successful business.
We have found in life that it is important to stay tuned into divine guidance and to trust when we are given signs to change directions. We explored many avenues to continue with our business, but when the doors we opened continued to close, it was clear it was time.
Our success was due to coming from a place of integrity, doing our best to generate good quality repairs and standing behind our work.
There are two shops that Tom and I would recommend who run their auto repair businesses with this philosophy, Pete and Denise of Big 'O' Tires on Lakeshore in Clearlake, 707-994-2374, and Steve of Fischer Auto Electric on Old Highway 53 in Clearlake, 707-994-8629. We have contacted both of these shops to let them know we would be referring anyone who asks to them.
To our customers, thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for your support, without you we would not have had a successful business.
Through our business we have developed many friendships and we are grateful. We are not leaving the area. We are looking forward to the adventure ahead, which will continue to include the rebuilding of our home.
Linda Diehl-Darms lives in Middletown, Calif.
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – The Hidden Valley Lake Men's Niners golf club held a stroke-play tournament on the front nine at HVL golf course on April 7.
The results were as follows:
– First flight winners: first place, tie, Rick Erickson and Keith Ipsen, net 32; second place, Paul Bertlin; third place, Stan Kalata.
– Second flight: first place, Bob Smart, 30; second place, Al Burrows, 32; and third place, Phil Tyler, 33.
– Third flight: first place, Ed Brooks, 38; second place, Hal Weber, 38; and third place, Don Holland, 39.
Bruce Hamilton and Rick Conrad were closest to the par three pins. Paul Bertlin, Ed Brooks, Phil Tyler and Don Holland and chip-ins.
Forty-four golfers participated.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Three people were injured – one of them a Cal Fire employee – as the result of a crash involving a vehicle and a fire utility pickup on Thursday afternoon.
Cal Fire said the head-on crash – involving what was reported to be a sport utility vehicle and a South Lake County Fire/Cal Fire utility pickup – was reported at 1:15 p.m. on Highway 29 just south of the county Napa and Lake County line.
Two people in the SUV were injured. Cal Fire said a REACH air ambulance transported one individual with major injuries to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, while the second person – who had moderate injuries – was taken by ground ambulance to Queen of the Valley Hospital.
The Cal Fire employee sustained minor injuries and was transported by ground to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, according to the report.
The southbound lane of Highway 29 remained open during the incident, officials reported.
The California Highway Patrol's Napa area office, which is the agency conducting the crash report, did not have additional details available on the incident or the individuals involved late Thursday afternoon.
Assigned to the incident were five engine/truck companies, 24 personnel, an air ambulance, a rescue truck and two ground ambulances, according to Cal Fire.
Responding agencies included Cal Fire, South Lake County Fire District, Calistoga Fire, Napa County Fire, Napa AMR Ambulance, REACH Air Medical and the CHP.
The crash caused minor to moderate front end damage to the fire vehicle, with the SUV sustaining major damage with intrusion into the passenger compartment, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire estimated the vehicle-related damage at $29,000.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Three men who risked their lives to save people in the path of last year's Valley fire in Lake County were among more than a dozen state employees who received the California Governor’s Medal of Valor award on Tuesday.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers Timothy Little and Ryan Stephenson, and Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Division Chief Jim Wright received their Medal of Valor awards at a ceremony in Sacramento.
The Governor’s Medal of Valor award is the highest honor that California bestows on its public servants, recognizing “an extraordinary act of heroism by a state employee extending far above and beyond the normal call of duty or service performed at great risk to his/her own life in an effort to save human life.”
Little saved the lives of two women and one infant, Stephenson saved the life of an elderly woman and her dog, and Wright rescued the entire helitack crew of Copter 104.
The Valley fire burned 76,067 acres in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties and was fully contained in early October. Altogether it burned some 1,300 homes, with four confirmed casualties.
Fish and Wildlife officers race to save residents
Both Little and Stephenson were on patrol in the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015, when the Valley fire ignited on Cobb Mountain.
Little was working as a safety patrol in the town of Cobb as he and other first responders scrambled to evacuate or assist residents during the Valley fire.
As the fire began to consume the town of Cobb, an emergency call went out about an elderly woman trapped in her home and in need of immediate rescue.
Hearing radio calls from other rescue personnel saying they were unable to respond because of fire and debris in the roadway, Little immediately headed toward the woman's home.
Driving his patrol vehicle through raging flames and burning road hazards, Little found the house and entered the home where he found an elderly woman trapped with her 11-month-old granddaughter.
Little rescued both the woman and child, getting them out of their home safely just minutes before fire incinerated her home.
Shortly afterward, Little learned that another elderly woman was trapped in her house and needed serious medical attention. He also learned that no medical transport crews would be able to make it there in time.
He raced to provide aid. After locating the house, he found the woman trapped on the second floor, unable to walk. Little carried her down a flight of stairs to a waiting vehicle and escorted them to the hospital. Little then continued to assist in other searches.
After the fire burned through the Cobb area and headed toward Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake, Stephenson raced ahead of the inferno to warn people about the fire and help them evacuate so they wouldn't be trapped by the flames.
Working door to door, he had evacuated several homes and escorted eight people to safety when one of the residents realized their neighbor had been overlooked.
The neighbor, an 88-year-old wheelchair bound woman, was still in her home, lying on the couch, unaware of the approaching fire.
Stephenson quickly returned to her street, which was now engulfed in flames, identified the woman's house, entered, and found her asleep on her couch. She was unable to get out on her own, so Officer Stephenson carried her in his arms to his patrol truck.
As he was getting ready to leave, the woman told him she was worried about her dog. Officer Stephenson then went back into her home and returned to the truck with her dog, driving them all to safety just minutes before her home became engulfed in flames.
The fire subsequently destroyed the woman's home.
"Our more than 400 wildlife officers understand and accept their roles as peace officers, caretakers, guardians and public servants," said CDFW Chief of Law Enforcement David Bess. "They are well trained and prepared to not only deal with wildlife law enforcement, but general peace officer work and first responder duties. The brave and selfless acts by these officers exemplify the outstanding force of CDFW wildlife officers."
Cal Fire division chief saves trapped helitack crew members
At 2 p.m. Sept. 12, Chief Wright, a resident of Cobb, was off duty and at home when he was notified about the Valley fire.
During the initial attack on the Valley fire, four of the eight-member Helitack Base Cal Fire Copter 104 became entrapped by a significant fire storm and had to use their emergency fire shelters to protect themselves.
All four crew members received second- and third-degree burns to their face, neck, back, legs, arms and hands.
Based on the captain’s description of their location, Wright believed he knew where they were.
He drove to the base of an access road and found four uninjured members of the eight member group. They quickly jumped in the truck with Wright as he drove towards the four firefighters who were in danger.
Driving through fire and thick smoke, Wright navigated up the road using burned trees as markers until he saw a clearing in the smoke and was able to distinguish the silver fire shelters in the distance.
Wright pulled up and the crew that arrived with him quickly loaded the burned firefighters into the back of his pickup.
Wright then drove them to a landing zone where the badly burned captain and firefighters were transferred to a Cal Fire helicopter and ultimately flown to the UC Davis Burn Center for treatment.
With no regard for his own safety, Wright’s heroic act saved the helitack crew of the Cal Fire Copter 104 crew during the Valley fire.
“Our firefighters put their lives on the line every day,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, Cal Fire director. “But these individuals had to make decisions to act quickly, without regard to their own safety, which ultimately cost one of them his life.”
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Thousands of people were reported to be out of power early Thursday due to a widespread outage in parts of Clearlake.
Pacific Gas and Electric reported that about 2,600 customers were impacted by the outage, first reported at 12:22 a.m. Thursday.
The PG&E outage map showed the outage's boundaries were Konocti Avenue to the east, 37th Avenue to the south, then extending west to Lakeshore Drive and north to Smith Lane.
PG&E did not have an immediate cause for the outage, with crews on scene assessing the situation.
As of 1:30 a.m., no estimated time for power restoration was given.
Heavy rain hit parts of the county – including Clearlake – late Wednesday and early Thursday,
During that time, there was a report of a downed tree and power lines on Redwood Street and Olympic Drive, which according to PG&E's outage map was in the impacted area.
Additional details will be posted as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at